A Devotion I Found Relevant...
"Our personal experience and understanding of Christ is a limited one. We therefore need the faith and understanding of other Christians- and particularly those from other cultures- to enrich our own. We constantly run the danger of making Christ in our own image and of subjecting what Christ tells us to the constraints and concerns of our own culture. In doing this we run the danger that we only possess the Christ who suits us and serves our ends. If we are to possess Christ more fully or rather, if he is to possess us, we need to embracethe Christ who is for us but who also calls our values into question."
Above and beyond learning from other Christians, I feel like there is a lot from other faith traditions in other cultures that can enrich our own faith and practice; and that is part of the reason I'm here, or at least part of what I hope to get out of this year. In Kerala, Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism, Syrian Orthodox, Mar Thoma, Jacobite, Pentecostal, Evangelical), Hinduism and Islam all co-exist in a very healthy environment with a lot of cross-pollination of rituals and symbols, and all are mutually enriched by the presence and influenceof the others.
Also important in this devotion is the distinction between an affirmative personal Christ, and a Christ who challenges us. Maybe 'distinction' isn't the right word, since both aspects exist together and should work simultaneously in our lives. But the current trend, I fear, is to emphasize the former to the near-exclusion of the latter. Yes, Christ is for us (so who can be against us?), but He is also for everyone else-- especially those who we (in our self-righteousness, assured that if Christ is for Us, then he must be against Them) hate or ignore. This can be an uncomfortable thought, but sit with it for a while.
"Our personal experience and understanding of Christ is a limited one. We therefore need the faith and understanding of other Christians- and particularly those from other cultures- to enrich our own. We constantly run the danger of making Christ in our own image and of subjecting what Christ tells us to the constraints and concerns of our own culture. In doing this we run the danger that we only possess the Christ who suits us and serves our ends. If we are to possess Christ more fully or rather, if he is to possess us, we need to embracethe Christ who is for us but who also calls our values into question."
Above and beyond learning from other Christians, I feel like there is a lot from other faith traditions in other cultures that can enrich our own faith and practice; and that is part of the reason I'm here, or at least part of what I hope to get out of this year. In Kerala, Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism, Syrian Orthodox, Mar Thoma, Jacobite, Pentecostal, Evangelical), Hinduism and Islam all co-exist in a very healthy environment with a lot of cross-pollination of rituals and symbols, and all are mutually enriched by the presence and influenceof the others.
Also important in this devotion is the distinction between an affirmative personal Christ, and a Christ who challenges us. Maybe 'distinction' isn't the right word, since both aspects exist together and should work simultaneously in our lives. But the current trend, I fear, is to emphasize the former to the near-exclusion of the latter. Yes, Christ is for us (so who can be against us?), but He is also for everyone else-- especially those who we (in our self-righteousness, assured that if Christ is for Us, then he must be against Them) hate or ignore. This can be an uncomfortable thought, but sit with it for a while.
posted by Andy at 9:52 PM
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